Random Thoughts (episode)
B'Elanna is imprisoned for having violent thoughts on a planet of peaceful telepaths. Summary The is in orbit around a planet of telepathic lifeforms called the Mari. Down on the planet, B’Elanna and Captain Janeway are doing business with a man called Guill. The captain is attempting to negotiate a reasonable price for what she wants to buy. Just as they reach an agreement, a man bumps into Torres. She gets angry for a split second as the man apologizes, but she accepts his apology. Guill comes over and asks if she is all right. She says yes and Janeway finishes her transaction. A short-while later, they hear screaming in the streets. They run over to find the man who bumped into B’Elanna beating another man bloody. The beaten man is severely injured as Janeway stops him. The aggressor seems surprised at himself and says he does not know why he did that. While all of this is happening, Tuvok and the city's Chief Examiner, Nimira, talk of security and maintaining order. Nimira says there has been no violence in their society for years. She is one of the last security officers. Tuvok offers to transport her aboard Voyager to demonstrate their ways of security. On Voyager, Tuvok and Nimira walk out of the brig while Nimira comments what an odd concept the brig is: keeping a person in confinement as a punishment. Tuvok explains more on how their security system works. When they hear of the incident on the street, however, they both beam back to the surface to investigate. Back on the planet, Nimira asks Janeway, Neelix, and Torres routine questions about the incident because they were all witnesses. While asking questions, she telepathically observes their minds. As she is interrogating Torres, the incident where the man bumped into her comes up. Torres admits that she was angry at him and felt like hitting him back for a split second. At that comment, Nimira puts Torres under arrest for having violent thoughts. Nimira justifies her decision by stating that B'Elanna's images were transferred to the man earlier that day in that split-second when she had her violent thoughts. Therefore, it was Torres's fault that the crime took place in the first place. Janeway tries to explain that it really was not her fault and that they could not possibly incarcerate her for her "thoughts" because after all, the man who committed the act ought to be held responsible for his own actions. However, Nimira refuses to accept that and schedules an engramatic purge of Torres's memory to remove those images. Janeway tries to stop Nimira, but she refuses and apologizes, stating that this practice is necessary and part of their legal and law-enforcement system. Janeway and Tuvok begin their own investigation of the crime to find a way to stop the engramatic purge which could cause B’Elanna serious brain injury.They cannot seem to find any convincing evidence except that the man, called Frane, had been charged numerous times with possessing violent thoughts. Nimira says that this information is irrelevant. Later that day, while Neelix and Seven of Nine are on the planet's surface talking, they hear a scream. They rush over to the source. They find an old woman with a bloody knife standing over Talli, a woman that Neelix had become friends with. Talli is dead. Neelix is deeply upset that Talli was killed and on Voyager, asks Tuvok to do everything in his power to find who was responsible for this act and bring him to justice. Tuvok and Nimira have no doubt that the murder and the beating have a connection. Nimira is still certain that it is Torres's fault, but Tuvok decides to interrogate Torres for himself and decides to do a mind meld with her. The meld is not very deep, but Torres starts to remember exactly what she was thinking when the man bumped into her. She suddenly remembers something very disturbing about Guill that day, when he asked her if she was alright right after that man had bumped into. Tuvok later decides to interview Guill. The way he answers him makes Tuvok suspicious so when Guill leaves to supposedly have dinner with his family, Tuvok follows him. He finds him and another man, called Malin talking. Malin hands him a case of what appears to be money. Tuvok confronts them. Based on the conversation he had earlier with Guill, he realizes that Guill is in the business of sharing and collecting violent images between people. Tuvok offers to share his violent images with him, however, having no intention of really going through with this, he attempts to take Guill to Nimira for investigation before the sharing of his thoughts can happen. But Guill’s helpers take Tuvok by force and make him expose his violent thoughts. Tuvok locks Guill in a mind meld and gives him what he wants, but Vulcan emotions – which they've learned to suppress – are extremely intense compared to many other humanoids, and Guill is overwhelmed by the violence and savagery of Tuvok's deepest, darkest thoughts. The next day, Nimira takes Torres to begin the engramatic purge. Because Tuvok has not returned to Voyager, Janeway has no evidence to stop Nimira. She begins the purge just as Tuvok returns to Voyager with Guill. Janeway says it is extremely urgent to stop the engramatic purge immediately. Nimira is reluctant but accepts. Tuvok explains to Nimira that it was in fact Guill who caused all the incidents the previous day. He explains that he is a big merchant in a black market in which the Mari sell each other violent thoughts. Apparently, the Mari are not as enlightened as initially thought for outlawing violent thought has not made it go away – all it has done is force people to share it in back alleys. It appears as if the Mari have a somewhat more serious problem than the random thoughts of a single alien. Nimira is extremely surprised and has difficulty believing what she hears, but she stops the engramatic purge of Torres. After leaving orbit, The Doctor reverses the effects that the partial engramatic purge had on Torres. In the corridor, Tuvok explains to Torres that investigating this case has given him a new respect for her inner struggle: burdened as she is by her primitive Klingon psyche, so Tuvok, it is a wonder she is able to keep her violent thoughts under control as much as she does. Torres is pleasantly surprised at Tuvok’s assessment and thanks him. Later, in the captain's ready room, Seven complains that this crew’s philosophy of exploration and first contact exposes Voyager to constant risk. She suggest that they avoid all extraneous contact with outsiders and maintain a direct course for home as to increase their chances of getting there in a timely manner and in one piece. However, Janeway explains that they seek out new races because they want to, not because they follow protocols. Their experiences with the Mari, for example, gave them insights into a culture they have never encountered. And even though Seven finds that irrelevant, Janeway explains that this is how they gain knowledge. Their mission is not going to change. Somewhat confused, Seven accepts the Captain’s explanation, even though she disagrees. Log entries * [[Captain's log, USS Voyager, 2374|Captain's log, USS Voyager, 2374]] Memorable quotes "Your brig, it's a puzzling concept. Shutting someone away as punishment. Do you find that it rehabilitates the prisoner?" "The brig is primarily used as a means of ensuring the safety of others." "In what sense?" "For example, if we find ourselves with a hostile alien in our custody we may need to confine the individual until we can locate the proper authorities." "I see." "And on rare occasions we have been forced to incarcerate a crew member who has committed a serious infraction." "I'm surprised that one of your people could be capable of doing something serious enough to warrant imprisonment." "It's extremely rare. In any case, the brig has been occupied for less than one percent of our journey." "Forgive me, Tuvok, but it seems barbaric." "If all species were as enlightened as yours and mine, there would be no need for prisons." (telepathically) : - Chief Examiner Nimira and Tuvok "Where we come from, people are responsible for their own actions." "And here, people are responsible for their own thoughts." : - Torres and Chief Examiner Nimira Background Information * Gwynyth Walsh (Nimira) previously played B'Etor in three TNG episodes, and . * The surface of the Mari homeworld features the Delmar T. Oviatt Library from California State University, Northridge. * The communicators used by the Mari security officers are very similar to the communicators used by the terrorists who attempted to steal trilithium resin from the in . * The uniforms worn by the Mari security officers are also very similar to those worn by the Rutian police officers in . In addition, the Mari uniform includes a patch reused from the uniforms of the guards of Sanctuary District A from and , including the conspicuous letter "A." The only difference is that the Mari patch has been dyed red. * This is the first time the -style uniforms were seen on Voyager, albeit in footage only. Event Horizon footage * Tuvok's violent thoughts include scenes from Star Trek Generations (the scene of Veridian III exploding and of the Nexus in that planet's upper atmosphere), (a view of a Borg pursuing crew members), footage of the Kradin from and the mother creature from , though not in footage that was used in those particular episodes. Also utilized is the 1997 film . Event Horizon was released to theaters on August 17th, only three months before this episode aired. The film was produced by Paramount Pictures. Image:Event Horizon 1.jpg|Burning man Image:Event Horizon 2.jpg|Mutilated corpse Image:Event Horizon 3.jpg|Screaming man Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.5, catalog number VHR 4626, . *As part of the VOY Season 4 DVD collection. Links and references Guest stars *Gwynyth Walsh as Nimira *Wayne Péré as Guill *Rebecca McFarland as Talli Co-stars *Jeanette Miller as Woman *Ted Barba as Malin *Bobby Burns as Frane Uncredited co-stars *Tarik Ergin as Ayala References brig; cologne; engramatic purge; Mari; Mari Constabulary; Mari homeworld; memory engram; multiphasic bioscan; neurogenic restructuring; rada plum; renn; resonator coil; talchok; talchok musk; telepathy |next= }} Category:VOY episodes de:Gewalttätige Gedanken es:Random Thoughts nl:Random Thoughts